'Rosario' CTP Surfaces

Microsoft has released the first CTP of Visual Studio Team System "Rosario."

In announcing the CTP, Microsoft distinguished engineer Brian Harry noted that the company's two main focuses for Rosario are "testing and application quality" and "business alignment."

"The CTP delivers a mix of features supporting both scenarios -- including an updated MSF CMMI template, user definable links types, hierarchical work items, work item queries on links, an awesome manual testing tool and more," Harry writes on his blog.

Microsoft officials have described Rosario as a major step forward in improving collaboration within IT organizations, helping to align the technical and business sides of a company, as Redmond Developer News magazine explored an earlier cover story. A blog entry by Jeff Beehler provides a deeper look at what's included in the Rosario CTP.

Microsoft is first set to release Visual Studio Team System 2008, which is set to offer incremental improvements to VSTS 2005.

Harry has said another CTP of Rosario will arrive in about three months.